The Planned Change

Abstract

Change is a common thread that runs through all businesses regardless of size, industry and age. Our world is changing fast and, as such, organizations must change quickly too (consultpivotal.com, n.d). The planned change for the Air Force evaluation system within the Equipment Maintenance Squadron (EMS) will undergo many challenges before the change process is complete. The most significant change was the addition of physical fitness standards on the performance report. Another new feature in the Evaluation process is now ratees will acknowledge their evaluation digitally and receive feedback before the report is made a matter of record (Dunaway, 2007). The goal of the change was to improve performance documentation by pulling out the unnecessary fluff and getting to the meat of what's important in our Airmen as well as reducing the administrative workload that comes with the current process (Maurice, 2007). Whether you're considering a small change to one or two processes, or a system wide change to an organization, it's common to feel uneasy and intimidated by the scale of the challenge (mindtools.com, 2012). Most theories of organizational change originated from the landmark work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin who developed a three-stage model of planned change. The three stages are unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). By recognizing these three distinct stages of change, you can plan to implement the change required. You start by creating the motivation to change (unfreeze). You move through the change process by promoting effective communications and empowering people to embrace new ways of working (change). And the process ends when you return the organization to a sense of stability (refreeze) (consultpivotal.com, n.d).

What was true more than two thousand years ago is just as true today. We live in a world where "business as usual" IS change. New initiatives, project-based working, technology improvements, staying ahead of the competition - these things come together to drive ongoing changes to the way we work (mindtools.com, 2012). Change is a common thread that runs through all businesses regardless of size, industry and age. Our world is changing fast and, as such, organizations must change quickly too. Organizations that handle change well thrive, whilst those that do not may struggle to survive (consultpivotal.com, n.d). The planned change for the Air Force evaluation system within the Equipment Maintenance Squadron will undergo many challenges before the change process is complete.

In the summer of 2007 the Air Force announced a major revamping of the contents of the Enlisted Performance Report (EPR) and Officer Performance Report (OPR) in an attempt to minimize the time required to complete these reports. The most significant change was the addition of physical fitness standards on the performance report. Members scoring less than 75 will be receiving a referral report. Referral reports can negatively impact an Airman's career which can result in promotion ineligibility and duty assignment limitations. Another new feature in the EPR process is now ratees will acknowledge their evaluation digitally and receive feedback before the report is made a matter of record (Dunaway, 2007).

Other changes were made to streamline the EPR and OPR such as revision of the feedback worksheets and electronic routing process which removed the Military Personnel Flight (MPF) completely from the routing process. The goal of the change was to improve performance documentation by pulling out the unnecessary fluff and getting to the meat of what's important in our Airmen as well as reducing the administrative workload that comes with the current process (Maurice, 2007).

Organizations encounter many different forces for change. These forces come from external sources outside the organization and from internal sources. External forces for change originate outside the organization. Because these forces have global effects, they may cause an organization to question the essence of what business it is in and the process by which products and services are produced. Internal forces for change come from inside the organization. These forces can be subtle, such as low job satisfaction, or can manifest in outward signs, such as low productivity or high turnover and conflict (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).

There are four key external forces for change: demographic characteristics, technological advancements, market changes, and social and political pressures. Service organizations are increasingly using technology as a means to improve productivity, competitiveness, and customer service. Technology is intended to improve efficiency without adding employees. There is no question that the development and use of technological advancements is probably one of the biggest forces for change (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).

Whether you're considering a small change to one or two processes, or a system wide change to an organization, it's common to feel uneasy and intimidated by the scale of the challenge. You know that the change needs to happen, but you don't really know how to go about doing it. Where do you start? Whom do you involve? How do you see it through to the end (mindtools.com, 2012)?

The concept of "change management" is a familiar one in most businesses today. But, how businesses manage change (and how successful they are at it) varies enormously depending on the nature of the business, the change and the people involved. And a key part of this depends on how far people within it understand the change process (consultpivotal.com, n.d).

Most theories of organizational change originated from the landmark work of social psychologist Kurt Lewin. He developed a three-stage model of planned change which explained how to initiate, manage, and stabilize the change process. The three stages are unfreezing, changing, and refreezing (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). The three phases of the Kurt Lewin model provide guidance on how to go about getting people to change: a manager will implement new processes and re-assign tasks, but change will only be effective if the people involved embrace it and help put it into practice. It gives a manager or other change agent a framework to implement a change effort, which is always very sensitive and must be made as seamless as possible (Morrison, 2010).

The Unfreezing stage is probably one of the more important stages to understand in the world of change we live in today. This stage is about getting ready to change. It involves getting to a point of understanding that change is necessary and getting ready to move away from our current comfort zone (change-management-coach.com, (2012). The first stage of change